A new malaria drug developed at Oregon Health & Science University and the Portland VA Medical Center could represent a breakthrough against a disease that kills 1.2 million people each year.

So far, the compound ELQ-300 has only been proven to work on mice and mosquitoes. But the mosquito part of that could be hugely significant -- because mosquitoes carry the malaria parasite.

The drug "has the potential to prevent transmission of the diesase," says Michael Riscoe, professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at OHSU and director of the Experimental Chemotherapy Lab at the Portland VA Medical Center.

Riscoe was lead investigator for a study published today by the journal Science Translational Medicine, showing ELQ-300 to be extremely potent in mice. Unlike other malaria drugs, it kills the parasite in the liver, before it spreads into the bloodstream -- where it wreaks havoc. The disease is most often fatal for those with depressed immune systems -- meaning pregnant women and children under the age of six.

The new drug's success has people excited. The drugs that used to work against malaria, quinine and chloroquine, have become less effective as the disease has mutated and become resistant. Riscoe is part of an international group of scientist searching for a cure that can kill malaria -- and potentially eradicate it.

"A vaccine to prevent malaria is still not a reality," Risco says. "It has been for decades just out of reach, and it remains today out of reach and just around the corner."

ELQ-300 is a variant of a drug developed by German scientists in the 1940s. The drug, endochin, was set aside after it was deemed effective in canaries, but not humans. The Swiss non-profit called Medicines for Malaria Venture has supported the work trying to revamp the drug to make it effective, and ELQ-300 has proven the most promising. In fact, it likely would be cheaper than other malaria drugs.

“It has potential to become part of a combination therapy that could cure patients, prevent infection and block the transmission of malaria – all at low-doses – which means fewer and smaller pills for patients, at a lower cost," said Dr Tim Wells of the nonprofit.

Researchers are optimistic the drug will prove safe for human consumption. But the drug isn't expected to be approved for human clinical trials for a year or two. Until human trials are complete, side effects won't be known.